Crate.



QPATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

H. N. BAGK US.

CRATE.

APPLIOATION FILED D20. 22. 1900.

no MODEL.

WITWZ'SSES.

r/iiorncys- YNE NORRIS PEYERS no rwrmun-go; msuwuwou. n c,

Patented may 10, 1904..

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY N. BACKUS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,653, dated May 10, 1904:.

Application filed December 22, 1900- Serial No. 40,716. (No model.)'

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY N. BACKUS, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crates; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a crate or shippingpackage; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out particularly in the claim.

The object of the invention is to produce a package for shipping and containing purposes which shall be light, strong, and comparatively inexpensive and in which the arrangement is such as to allow of the package being shipped in the knockdown when desired.

The above object is attained by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my crate or package with its several parts or sections associated as when in use. Fig. 2 is a like view showing the package in the knockdown. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the frames of the sections of which the package is composed. Fig. 4 is a like view of the woven slats adapted to be attached to said frame. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the frame and slats united to form a section of the package. Fig. 6 is an enlarged section in detail, showing the manner of weaving the slats of which the sections are made. Fig. 7 is a detail showing the manner of uniting the sections at the corners.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates a frame composed of suitable bars or strips united at their ends to form a rectangular parallelogram. Mounted upon the frame is a series of slats 2, bound together by the transverse wire strands 3,. which cross the outer face of said slats and to which the slats are secured by means of the strands 4 of binding-wire, which cross the inner face of the slats and are woven or looped around the wire strands 3 between each succeeding slat, as shown at 4 in Fig. 5, whereby the slats are firmly bound together. The slats so united and secured are placed upon the frame 1 and attached thereto by means of small nails or in any suitable .manner. The ends of the straight strands of wire 3 are looped, as shown at 6, and are fastened by means of a nail driven through the frame and through said loops, so that when the slats and frame are united the ends of said straight wires are embedded between the adjacent faces of the end slats and the rails of the frame, whereby they are securely held in place and serve as a truss to support and stiffen the slats 2.

The top, sides, ends, and bottom of the crate or package are made in the manner above described, the only diiference in their structure being a slight variation in size, according to the shape of the crate or package to be formed. When the slats have been mounted upon the frame,an independent section is formed, which may be united to other sections to form the package by nailing through the bars of the frame, as shown at 7 in Fig. 7 The coversection 8 may be attached by means of hinges (not shown) or otherwise secured in place.

The slats are preferably placed upon the inner face of the frame, so that when the sections are united the interior of the package will be smooth. If desired, after the sections have been united to form the package they may be more firmly retained in place by the use of the metal corner-plates 9.

As will be seen, thepackage is composed of independent sections, which may be shipped in the knockkown, as shown in Fig. 2, and quickly assembled to form a crate or package, as shown in Fig. 1.

A package formed in the manner described is light and very strong and durable, the com paratively thin slats 2 being braced by the transverse truss-wires, so as to render them firm and prevent them yielding to either exterior or interior pressure, making a package that is stiff and compact and adapted for shipping light articles and for other uses. The

end sections may be provided with rope handles 10 to facilitate the handling of the package.

The transverse truss-wires 3 support the slats at the center, while the ends of said slats extending onto the bars of the frame are afforded a firm bearing, thereby bracing and stiffening the section.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A crate or package, composed entirely of independent sections adapted to be assembled to form the side ends, top and bottom of the crate, each section comprising a rigid and permanent rectangular frame, and a series of contiguous slats supported by a transverse HENRY N. BACKUS. Witnesses;

E. S. VHEELER, C. E. J OSLIN. 

